Tag Archives: 1100

1949 Fiat-Gilco 1100 Zagato

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monaco | May 12, 2018

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Gilberto Colombo began building lightweight automotive chassis right after WWII. It was an extension of his father’s tube-manufacturing company and eventually Gilco became a company in its own right. They were famous for building chassis for racing cars for the likes of Alfa Romeo and Ferrari.

In 1949, Gilco wanted to build a car to race in the famous Mille Miglia. They produced a chassis called the 205MM and before they ever went racing they changed their focus and decided to build a limited-edition roadster. Using a Fiat 1100 1.1-liter straight-four, Gilco reached out to Zagato to get a racing body designed.

And then it all stopped. Only this one prototype was ever built. It was restored in Germany within the last three years and is now a driveable footnote in Italian automotive history. Why the car is called a Fiat-Gilco 1100 Zagato and not a Gilco 205MM Zagato makes it kind of seem like Gilco is getting a little shortchanged. At any rate, it carries a pre-sale estimate of $245,000-$310,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

1927 Taupin 1100 Prototype

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 9, 2018

Photo – Artcurial

Here’s yet another one-off prototype car from this same collection. Not much is known about this history of this car, other than it seems to be assembled and custom made. The radiator is from a Darmont. The engine is a SCAP unit of 1.1-liters.

It was built by an actual engineer, so there was some thought put into it. The wheels have independent suspension, so it sits very low. It’s almost like the grandfather of the Ariel Atom… if an Atom only had three wheels. Customized by the owner to add such creature comforts as a cushion to sit on, this thing is largely original and just might be in running condition. It should cost the next owner between $6,000-$9,500. Click here for more info.

Four Cars from Rétromobile

Offered by Artcurial | Paris, France | February 9, 2018

1947 Dolo Type JB10

Photo – Artcurial

There were a lot of car companies that popped up after World War Two showing prototypes at auto shows and then promptly disappearing. Dolo was one such marque. Usually these cars exist only in grainy scans of old sales literature developed when the company’s founders thought they had a chance to make it big.

The JB10 was shown by Brun, Dolo & Galtier at the 1947 Paris Auto Salon. It was a front-wheel drive car powered by a 592cc flat engine making 23 horsepower. I don’t believe the engine is still with this car, however. The roof was a Plexiglas dome, which is kind of weird. The company went around taking orders (and payments) but never honored them. The company did build a second car but its whereabouts are unknown.

This car was discovered in storage at the Montlhéry circuit and entered the collection it is being offered from in 1967. It’s all-original and was originally blue. As a one-off it should bring between $7,500-$15,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $33,585.

1931 Salomon Prototype

Photo – Artcurial

Jean-Marie-Jules Salomon co-founded Le Zebre early in his career. He later worked for Citroen and then Peugeot. From 1928 through 1939 he worked at Rosengart. While at Rosengart (which did pretty well building light cars themselves), Salomon designed and built his own cyclecar prototype.

This light, two-seat roadster features a tubular axle and front brakes. The body is aluminium, which wasn’t all that common in 1931. It’s powered by a two-stroke single-cylinder engine. It’s in pretty original condition and would require a full restoration (it’s missing things like gauges, the entire floor, you know… some basics). But still, it’s a unique car from the 1930s and it can be yours for between $12,000-$18,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $7,301.

1927 Taupin 1100 Prototype

Photo – Artcurial

Here’s yet another one-off prototype car from this same collection. Not much is known about this history of this car, other than it seems to be assembled and custom made. The radiator is from a Darmont. The engine is a SCAP unit of 1.1-liters.

It was built by an actual engineer, so there was some thought put into it. The wheels have independent suspension, so it sits very low. It’s almost like the grandfather of the Ariel Atom… if an Atom only had three wheels. Customized by the owner to add such creature comforts as a cushion to sit on, this thing is largely original and just might be in running condition. It should cost the next owner between $6,000-$9,500. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $23,363.

1948 De Coucy Prototype Record

Photo – Artcurial

What we have here was someone’s – a Count de Coucy, to be more specific – idea of a land speed record car. A trained engineer, de Coucy built some high-revving engines of his own design – we’re talking engines that revved to 10,000 rpm in the 1930s. In 1935, he designed a 500cc engine capable of that 10,000 rpm.

Unfortunately, he was arrested by the Germans during WWII as a part of the Resistance and then his workshop was bombed in 1943. In 1948 he took the chassis from a Formula One car he was working on and built a single-seater enclosed record car. The 500cc engine never made it in, but it now carries a 1.1-liter straight-four instead (which is not completely installed). The car was never run and is being sold in hopes that someone will pick up the cause. It should bring between $6,000-$9,500. Click here for more info and here for more from Artcurial.

1953 Abarth 1100 Sport by Ghia

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 18-19, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

In 1949, Carlo Abarth jumped off of the sinking ship that was Cisitalia to start his own business… utilizing the leftovers of Cisitalia. It started with sports cars and today is a trim level of sporty Fiats. Abarth only built cars in limited numbers and the 1100 you see here is a one-off.

There was a car called the Abarth 205 and they took a chassis from that car and fitted Fiat’s new 1100 engine to it. The car was sent to Ghia for this incredible Jet Age body, and voila! Originally, Fiat’s 1.1-liter straight-four made about 35 horsepower. Abarth no doubt increased that figure.

This Ghia masterpiece has all the right little details, not to mention a brilliant blue interior that will blow you away because you just don’t expect the vividness it provides. Exhibited initially by Ghia at the 1953 Turin Salon, this car was later shown at the 1954 New York Auto Show by its first owner, who re-christened it the “Vaughn SS Wildcat,” with V-8 underhood.

The car was rediscovered in 1982 and the current owner had it restored in 2015, correct Fiat engine re-installed. It’s an awesome – and remarkably small – 1950s Italian design. You’ll be the only one with anything like it. Click here for more info and here for more from RM Sotheby’s in Monterey.

1957 MV Agusta 1100 D2 Autocarro

Offered by Bonhams | Paris, France | February 9, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

Giovanni Agusta founded Meccanica Verghera Agusta, later changed to MV Agusta, in 1945 to build motorcycles. Agusta was an aviation company that dates back to the early 1920s, but motorcycles didn’t come until after WWII. MV Agusta has had a number of corporate overloads, but currently operates mostly independently (they are 25% owned by Mercedes-AMG).

What most people don’t know is that this bike manufacturer built a small run of light commercial vehicles in the 1950s. The Autocarro was a light delivery truck and MV Agusta sold their first example in 1954 (though it was a three-wheeled, motorcycle-based trucklet at that point). Production stopped in the early 1960s. This 1100 D2 is powered by a 27 horsepower, 1.1-liter twin-cylinder diesel.

It is presented in barn find condition, but it is very interesting. Very few of these were built and even fewer survive. It is thought that D2 production totaled about 2,000 units – a fraction of what Fiat was turning out at the same time. This project deserves restoration and should bring between $32,000-$43,000, even in this condition. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.

1953 Fiat 1100 Cabriolet by Allemano

Offered by Gooding & Company | Scottsdale, Arizona | January 20, 2017

Photo – Gooding & Company

The Fiat 1100 was a model that was produced a number of different times, but the car you see here was part of the line that was available between 1953 and 1969 (though light commercial variants were built through 1971). The cars were offered in a few body styles from Fiat, namely a four-door sedan, wagon, and a two-door convertible.

When Fiat introduced the car at the 1953 Geneva Auto Show, it was just sedans. But later that year at the Turin motor show they had a few special versions on the show stand, such as a Michelotti-designed Coupe and Cabriolet, which were both built by Allemano. In all, Allemano is thought to have built two coupes and four convertibles and this is the convertible from the Turin show stand.

Power comes from a 50 horsepower, 1.1-liter straight-four. This car sports single-family ownership for 56 years and its current owner had it restored to its present glory. Only two Allemano-bodied 1100 Cabriolets are known to exist and they are very striking. This one should bring between $275,000-$325,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Gooding & Company.

1937 Hansa 1100 Cabriolet

Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Toffen, Switzerland | April 26, 2014

Photo – Oldtimergalerie

Hansa was a German car manufacturer and, in my mind, I consider it a sort of German version of one of those British manufacturers that went through so many owners and mergers over the years. The company started as Hansa in 1906 and in 1921, Hansa-Lloyd was formed by the amalgamation of Hansa and Lloyd. But Hansa remained as a stand-alone marque, producing cars up to 1939.

Carl Borgward took over after that and Borgward became the marque of note, with Hansa coming back around to supplement the Goliath range later on. Anyway, the auction catalog has this car listed as a Hansa-Lloyd – which is accurate insofar as it was produced by Hansa-Lloyd und Goliath-Werke Borgward & Tecklenborg. But the marque for the 1100 model was actually just Hansa.

The 1100 was introduced in 1934 and uses a 1.1-liter straight-four making 28 horsepower. The model was available as a two-door sedan or two-door cabriolet, as you see here. It will do 57 mph and about 20,000 were built before war broke out in 1939 and Hansa production ceased. This nice example should bring between $27,500-$29,500. Click here for more info and here for the rest of this sale’s lineup.

1954 Fiat Stanguellini Bertone Berlinetta

Offered by Russo & Steele | Monterey, California | August 18, 2012

This car was supposed to be a Fiat 1100. But luckily it escaped that fate, being shipped to Bertone, the famous Italian design house and coachbuilder, before Fiat’s standard body could be installed. It was handed over to designer Franco Scaglione who was also working on the series of BAT concept cars for Alfa Romeo. There are some slight similarities, the one-off look being part of it.

The goal was to put these cars into limited production, but only a handful (four) were built. And if having the direct built-by-Bertone connection wasn’t enough, this car was then mechanically modified by Stanguellini, builder of tiny Italian race cars from the end of WWII through the mid-1960s. Horsepower from the 1.1-liter straight-four was bumped to 70.

This particular car was first shown at the 1954 New York Auto Show, where it was bought off the stand by Briggs Cunningham, for his wife – who didn’t like it. The next owner kept the car for 51 years, parting with it in 2006. It then underwent a four-year concours-quality restoration. It was shown at Pebble Beach in 2010, and at the Concorso Italiano in 2011, where it won Best in Show.

Since then, the car has spent time on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum, while also being “for sale” at Fantasy Junction in Emeryville, California. The asking price is/was $295,000 – and it has been there since at least November of 2011. So what will it bring at auction? Well, you’ve seen the asking price, it just depends what reserve the consignor has placed on the car and how realistic they think that $295,000 really is. Then again, it’s been for sale for almost nine months and hasn’t sold at that price, so we’ll see. For more information, click here. And for the rest of the Russo & Steele Monterey lineup, click here.